Peacekeeper Shot Dead in Sudan's Darfur Region

African Union troops patrolling the Darfur region of Sudan. At least ten AU peacekeepers were killed by Darfur rebels on Sunday, September 30, 2007., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Peacekeeper shot dead in Sudan's Darfur region

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - An international peacekeeper was shot dead by unknown gunmen in an eastern part of Sudan's Darfur region, the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) said.

The killing brings the total number of peacekeepers killed in Darfur since 2007 to 44, a UNAMID spokesman said.

War broke out in Darfur in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the central government, accusing Khartoum of neglecting the remote region and marginalizing its ethnic minorities.

Despite the presence of the world's largest peacekeeping mission, fighting between Sudan's army and rebels has continued since then, alongside banditry and tribal clashes.

UNAMID said one of its peacekeepers was shot dead in the early morning on Friday near Muhajeria in East Darfur state. Two other peacekeepers were wounded, it said in a statement. It did not give the nationalities of the victims.

UNAMID said it was investigating the incident in coordination with the Sudanese government.

In December, an international peacekeeper killed three other peacekeepers before killing himself in Darfur.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)


FRIDAY 19 APRIL 2013

UNAMID chief calls for humanitarian access to recaptured Darfur towns

April 18, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The head of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) on Thursday urged Sudanese authorities to ensure humanitarian access to civilians affected by the recent fighting in two towns of East Darfur.

The clashes between Sudanese army and rebels from Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) over the control of Labado and Muhajeriya forced thousands of civilians to flee their home as over 18,000 sought refugee around the UNAMID sites there.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, who took up official duties as UNAMID chief and joint mediator on 1 April, met Wednesday in Khartoum with the Sudanese interior minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid where the two official discussed the situation in Darfur.

The Ghanaian diplomat underlined the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Labado and Muhajeria and urged the Government of Sudan to "ensure that UNAMID and United Nations’ humanitarian convoys are able access to (the two areas), in order to provide the humanitarian assistance to those in need".

Last Tuesday, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Sudan, Ali Al-Za’tari called to allow humanitarian access to the civilians in the two towns of east Darfur stressing that "an outbreak of diarrhoea among children requiring urgent and immediate assistance".

Also the official Humanitarian Aid Commission, estimated that 36,000 people have sought protection at UNAMID bases in Labado and Muhajeria.

UNAMID had already raised the issue in a meeting of a tripartite mechanism including the African Union Sudanese government and United Nations held earlier this week in Addis Ababa.

The Sudanese government pledged more cooperation with the joint mission arguing that the imposed restrictions were due to security concerns.

In a statement to the official SUNA after the meeting with the new UNAMID chief, interior minister said the security situation is calm in Darfur except some looting incidents carried out by rebel groups, accusing the latter of attacking commercial convoys.

However, UNAMID spokesperson said that during the meeting "Chambas also urged the Government to prevent civilian loss of life and property as it re-establishes its control over these areas".

After the control of the two areas by the Sudanese government forces, the rebel SLM-MM accused the militias of killing two people in Labado and called on the international community to investigate the "massacre" that the government militia committed there.

(ST)